Merito (Lima, PE Mar 22, 2025)

Merito is incredible. There have only been a couple of dining experiences where every dish was great and there were multiple “WOW” dishes. Merito is both a flavor bomb, but also highlights ingredients without covering them up at all. This has to break the top 5 for me. Here are the dishes from the tasting menu we enjoyed:

• Tomato-like fruit (sweet watermelon gazpacho) opener (boy does this place highlight how special Peru’s ingredients are)
• Yacon, fish, kiwicha (like a crispy and savory fish tartare cracker with a great seasoning)
• Mamey Popeye crab (crab tartlet with an umami topping)
• Scallops sanki jalapeno (wow… cold scallops in a soup with clams and veggies on top)
• Lobster and huacatay (great two-part lobster dish. The baby corn tricked us into thinking it was octopus at first)
• Paiche, Yuca and tucupi (bbq fish like you would see in a sweet bbq quail dish)
• Andean curry (incredible—full stop, perfectly cooked fish, incredible curry, great contrasts with coconut foam and lime)
• lamb parsnip mango (lamb raviolis, the potato was so thin and crispy and held things well. Best lamb dish I’ve eaten, a close second being at Hermanos Torres in BCN)
• Cocona honey and lemon verbena (icy sour, balanced cleanser)
• Coconut lache and tumbo (wonderful sorbet, so savory, sweet and umami)
• Corn coffee and sacha papa (cloud of air that dissolved on the tongue)

Bonus for a great, casual environment with good music and vibes, a great staff. Well done to the service team and kitchen team.

Everyone here said get the flan at Merito. They are right—we were able to try it at the DEMO coffee shop in the morning and it was great. I probably would have ordered it at dinner just to try it had I not had it earlier in the day.

Secret is definitely out on Merito. This should be higher on the 50best list and is a place that deserves its recognition and will probably be harder to get in to in coming years.